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Page 189
lord. It was the cause of the deprivation that was making William bitter. Never before in his life had any man doubted William's honor.
"A warning? Again, not in the sense you mean the word. Whatever John is, Lord Llewelyn is not a fool. As I told you, Ian desires that all of you have a chance to talk. I was merely curious about what Lord Gwenwynwyn will do."
"I should think Lord Ian would be as good a source of information as I."
"Yes, if we ever got to talk about such things. Somehow there is always something more pressing to discuss."
"I can imagine," William responded coldly.
Alinor had opened her mouth to explain about the reavers, but she shut it with a snap. Her eyes flashed, and she drew breath for a hot retort to William's ugly implication. Isobel had been so sympathetic that it had never occurred to her that William would feel otherwise. Suddenly it was clear why William was so suspicious of Ian, whom he knew quite well; why, really, he had not wanted to come to Alinor's wedding. Equally it was clear to Alinor why Ian would not come back to the keep even though his business was long finished. That thought gave Alinor such pleasure that it checked the angry words that rose to her lips.
"I have not forgotten Simon," she said softly instead.
William winced as if Alinor had caused him physical pain. "Of course not," he said hoarsely.
"Do you know what men John has proposed for my next husband?" she asked. It was very necessary that William not meet Ian with resentment and the best way was to show him the necessity of this marriage. "He put forward Fulk de Cantelu or Henry of Cornhill."
That made William's head snap back toward Alinor. "You jest," he roared.
"Do I?"
He knew, of course, that she did not. It was just the kind of revenge that John would take on a woman who

 
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